Fargo Premieres to More Than Four Million Viewers

FXs new 10-part limited series “Fargo” received a warm reception among viewers, drawing 4.15 million total viewers and 1.79 million Adults 18-49 for its first installment, a very strong initial number which will amount to only a small fraction of its final tally once time-shifted viewing arrives.

We are incredibly proud of the towering creative achievement by Noah Hawley and everyone involved with ‘Fargo,’ said John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions. The performances by Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, and the entire stellar cast are nothing short of extraordinary. This is truly one of the best shows weve ever had on the network. Were thrilled with the initial viewership last night and really excited for audiences to see the rest of the miniseries.

The premiere episode, The Crocodiles Dilemma, which ran from 10:00-11:37 PM, and encore telecasts (11:37 PM and 1:13 AM) combined to deliver 4.1 million Total Viewers and 1.79 million Adults 18-49. Fargos first-run episode at 10:00 PM posted 2.65 million Total Viewers and 1.02 million Adults 18-49, which were respective increases of +100% and +67% over its lead-in half hour (the broadcast premiere of the movie Contraband). The network expects a massive spike in viewership when Live+3 ratings data becomes available on Monday and inclusive of Live+7 data in approximately three weeks.

FX will air three additional encore runs of the premiere episode this week on Wednesday, April 16 at 12:20 AM ET/PT; Thursday, April 17 at 1:00 AM ET/PT; and Saturday, April 19 at 1:00 AM ET/PT.

In next Tuesdays second episode, The Rooster Prince (Airing Tuesday, April 22 at 10:00-11:15 PM ET/PT), Deputy Solverson (Tolman) begins to suspect that Lester (Freeman) is involved with the murders, but her new boss points her in a different direction. Meanwhile, Malvo (Thornton) investigates the blackmail plot against a man known as the Supermarket King Milos Stavros (Platt).